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Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.

The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has been told.

The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.

Scene Details

The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Case

Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.

State Argument

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.

Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.

But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.

Defense Stance

"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.

Additional Testimony

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.

The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were discovered.

Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.